Bucci's - For Lack of a Better Title
Written: Mar 03 '03
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Pros: Bucci's- reasonably priced, sophisticated Italian in Emeryville.
Cons: It's in Emeryville.
The Bottom Line: Italian in Emeryville - Bucci's where it's at.
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| megugrrrl's Full Review: Bucci's |
Bucci's is a moderately priced Italian restaurant known for it's kinda-upscale-n-trendy-but-not-really fare. It's always busy, but the wait is never long.
The Scene
I can't really decide who Bucci's is really for. There are always lots of couples, friends, a few families - all relatively young. It's not really hip, not really stuffy - I guess the common factor bringing these folks in is hungry. The crowd is comfortable and regular, which is refreshing, because Bucci's can appear a little snobby.
It's airy (a la warehouse) with wall-sized windows and is kind of sophisticated with a mish mash (but in a bad way) of decor. Local artist art, huge plastic transparent columns, and those neon jellyfish like they have at Farallon in the city stand out. It's not really tacky, just weird.
Ambiance doesn't get in the way of the food, which is straightforward and good.
Menu
The menu is Xeroxed on an 8 1/2" by 14" piece of paper because it changes daily for both lunch and dinner. Seasonal and trendy things like Niman Ranch meats find their way on it and there are also standbys like oven roasted meats, a handful of pasta dishes, and pizza, which are all good.
(Oh, and their house bread is excellent.)
For primi, I indulged in Sapori Forti - strong tastes - a little dish with gooey warm goat cheese, a few kalamata olives, and anchovies topped with crunchity bread crumbs and served with a hot (hot - not warm) roll. If you like goat cheese this is a glorious al forno appetizer. Yummy. $8 I had never heard of Sapori Forti but our server reassured us that it's a traditional dish. To counterbalance this, I also ordered a nice Spinach Salad with feta, crumbled egg and marinated red onions ($5) which was simple but wonderful.
My secondi was an Arborio risotto ($10) with mushrooms and yellow peppers which would have been spectacular had the risotto been cooked a little longer - there were crunchy undercooked bits here and there. My husband had a Pizze Carbonara ($16) with parmigiano, mozarella, egg and pancetta - the crust was fine - just enough chewy and crispy - and was great for breakfast the next morning as well. The last few times I ate pizza, it was homemade, so I really appreciated their puffy crust. (Bucci Calzones are alo pretty popular.)
The desserts were pretty straightforward. The crepes with blood oranges and marscapone were exactly as I would imagine. Not too sweet, which is the best way to end such a meal.
Service
The host and servers were wonderful, dishes came out exactly when they should have, as if the chef and servers were watching for us to take the last bite. The service is generally friendly and thoughtful, none of this foo-foo snotty business.
Etc.
Excellent wine list, even more excellent bartender to make Mojitos and other trendy drinks.
Bucci's has patio dining for summer nights.
Bucci's also has a parking lot!
Oh, and Bucci's is in Emeryville. Now for those who aren't familiar with East Bay neighborhoods, Emeryville is an interesting place, it's been an "up and coming" neighborhood for a dozen years and is full of dot com shells. I was first introduced to Bucci's during my shortlived dot com days and return because the price is right and the wait is short.
Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: Yes
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Best Suited For: Trendy Crowd
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Epinions.com ID:
megugrrrl
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 - Top 500 |
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Location: Oakland
Reviews written: 147
Trusted by: 317 members
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